Photos by Elizabeth Grieve (Lewis & Clark College), Student Correspondent for CET Japan, Fall 2023
Kendo Workshop at OGU
My class, the second level of Japanese, got to do a kendo workshop with the kendo club of Osaka Gakuin University. Our teacher, Matsumoto-sensei, also does kendo and showed off his awesome skills. They had us compete to see who could attack and yell the loudest (as part of kendo is the battle cry), and I won! Since the workshop, I’ve been visiting the club to do kendo with other international students in CET, and it’s really fun and challenging. There’s a lot to learn, and I’ve only just started. 剣道はかっこいいと思います (I think Kendo is cool)！
Choir Concert in Kobe
Choir Concert in Kobe with CET staff member Emoto
I went to Kobe for our CET coordinator’s choir concert! Kobe was really beautiful, and I love choir, so it was a great time. Emoto-san did very well, and it really reminded me of choir concerts I’ve performed in the U.S. In that way, I was more grateful for the times I’ve gotten to be in choir back home, at least while I’m unable to here in Japan.
Halloween
Halloween at Osaka Gakuin
Halloween in Japan was banging! I had my mom ship me my cosplay for Giorno Giovanna (from the anime Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure), which was a bit difficult because I forgot to tell her my apartment number. They kept it at the post office, and I didn’t have good enough Japanese to figure that situation out, so I had to have a Japanese OGU student help me out.
For those reading this, be very careful getting stuff shipped to you in Japan; do not be like me. But it was all worth it! I wore the costume for the Halloween activities we had on our school day and for the i-Chat costume contest, in which I won the unique costume and received a bucket of caramel popcorn!
I also went to “Kuse ga Tsuyoi Menya Reiwa” which translates to something like “Reiwa, a Noodle Restaurant with a Highly Unusual Personality,” a Jojo-themed ramen restaurant while dressed as Giorno, and it was awesome. Good ramen, too.
Japanese Cooking Workshop
The second and third levels of Japanese also had a workshop where we learned to make dashi and miso soup, and okonomiyaki! It was interesting and I feel like I learned a bit about Japanese cooking.